


Destiny of the Force

by MASD_1138



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Mortis (Star Wars), Star Wars: duel of the fates leaked script
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MASD_1138/pseuds/MASD_1138
Summary: For thousands of generation, the secrets of the Force has been protected by the Jedi from those who would have used it for evil. In a Galaxy ravaged by the war of the First Order, Rey knows what her destiny is: to protect the balance of the Force.There are still so many things for her learn, but with Kylo Ren on a quest to find an ancient power, Rey will have to find a way to stop him before it's too late...Back with the Resistance, Poe slowly gets used to being a leader and struggles to find a way to win the war before the Resistance reaches it's breaking point.A Duel of the Fates leaked script rewrite by MASD_1138
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 39
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue - The Sacred Jedi Text

**Author's Note:**

> So this is what I’ve been working on and why I haven’t really posted anything in a month! I’m really excited about this and have really enjoyed writing with the script. Obviously since I’m using the script, that means that there will be a lot of similarity in my fic, although I’ve decided to change a lot of things and I do hope you all like it. Don’t worry I’ve kept all the good Damerey bits and even added more because I am, after all, a dedicated damerey.<3
> 
> This is a short prologue, just to give a bit of context. I've explain as simply as possible de Mortis Gods, but I do recommend watching the Mortis story arc of Clone Wars (season 3 ep 15 to 17) if you do want more information and also because I love those episodes so much and its one of my fave storyline. This is going to be a bit lore heavy in the later chapters, but I'm making sure you won't have to go on Wookieepedia every 2 seconds lol.

_Mortis, a mystical realm from where our ancestor believes the Force comes from. Many of us have tried to find him to gain access to the unlimited knowledge hidden there. The Siths have also gone on quest to discover it, wanting to exploit the treasures of the Force for themselves. No one truly knows where it is or how to travel there, but the stories are that a gateway will appear if you are chosen by the powerful Force wielders that inhabit the planet._

_The Mortis Gods are a myth, a family representing the Dark side, the light side and the fragile balance in between. The Chosen one will have to travel there one day to protect that balance and to save the Galaxy._

Rey runs her finger along the worn paper, trying to imagine what this mystical place could look like. She doesn’t have to wonder for too long when she unfolds a piece of flimsi tucked into the page. The writing is more recent and the page is filled with drawings. There are many notes that Luke left behind in the texts and Rey enjoys every little insight into the mind of the great Jedi Master

_My father, Anakin Skywalker travelled to Mortis with his Padawan Ahsoka Tano and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Clone Wars. I found a holocron in old Ben Kenobi’s hut on Tatooine, the dedicated Jedi had taken up the task to put in as much information that he could remember from the Jedi archive. He talks about Mortis in detail:_

_The surface of the planet is ever changing, there’s no day or night, just a strange moonlight that illuminates the sky. The planet seems to die and come back to life every few hours. There were no other life forms on the planet, only the Force._

_The Force is stronger here than anywhere else I’ve ever been. It’s pure, uncontrolled power that calls to you._

_It especially called Anakin Skywalker, my former Padawan, in a way that was out of the common. I even witnessed the presence of my former Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, who had died many years before fighting the Sith Lord._

_We made contact with the first Mortis God, the Daughter, who represents the Light side. She tried to protect us from her brother, The Son who’s only goal was to escape the power of the Father, the patriarch of the family who kept the Force in balance._

_We were separated from Anakin and Ahsoka and I made contact with the Son, who showed a terrible and powerful connection to the Dark side._

_Anakin always refused to talk about what he saw on Mortis when we weren’t with him, but I know he saw things that terrified him, just like I witnessed during our short stay in the realm._

_In the end, the Father sacrificed himself using the Dagger so that Anakin could kill the Son who had the intention of using him to leave the realm and bring terror to the Galaxy. The Daughter died by giving her life force to Ahsoka, who had perished by the Son’s hand._

_With the three Mortis God dead, we were brought back to our ship by an unknown Force._

_I went looking for Mortis again once, in the beginning of my exile when I felt something shift in the Force, but my duty was to keep Luke safe on Tatooine._

Rey reads the testimony again, drinking in all the details and wondering how powerful beings like that existed. The Force is strong with her, she knows it and feels it coursing through her body every day, but to be the Force is something she doesn’t quite understand yet. There are drawings all over the page, one showing a monolith with the words “gateway” written beside it and a dagger, the one Rey assumes is the sacred Mortis Dagger that killed the Gods. 

This shouldn’t be her concern right now and she knows it, but she feels incredibly drawn to the story. Something about it is calling to her, just like the lightsaber had called to her in Maz’s castle on Takodana. The crystal feels warm on her chest where it hangs on a small piece of twine. 

Rey closes the Jedi texts, making sure the put back Luke’s note carefully in its place before putting her attention on her new lightsaber. This is why she’s not with the Resistance, she needs a weapon to fight Kylo Ren with. She needs to get back to her friends and protect them.

The pieces are laid out in front of her, just like the text had told her to do. She takes the crystal of the necklace removing the piece of string that hold the broken pieces together and lays them down in the center of the pieces. She starts meditating, reaching into the Force and trying to find her path. 

***

Somewhere far away, in a dark throne room, fright fills the air.

**“She’s coming.”**


	2. The Eclipse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are officially in the script now! I hope you all like it.

Poe carefully walks down the street, his hand on his hidden blaster under the cloak that he’s wearing. Finn is a bit ahead of him, dressed in an attire that looks like the attire of the people working in the Kuat shipyards. There’s little shops set up under tarps and pieces of durasteel on each side of the street. Anyone could potentially be a threat or an ally, a common occurrence since the Battle of Crait. There’s no way to truly tell if these people will try to help them or sell them out to the First Order as soon as they can.

They are trying to find Rose and BB-8 who both arrived a week before them to try to locate the information that they need to destroy an important First Order base that houses a new fleet of Star Destroyers. 

Finn gives Poe a signal, telling him to split up and start searching the stalls for any sign of Beebee or Rose. They had gotten a confirmation from Rose that she had acquired the plans, but since then it had been completely silent. 

Just like Rey, Poe thinks, he hasn’t heard of her since she left on her own mission weeks ago. He can’t help but wonder if she’s safe. At least he knows the First Order doesn’t have her since Kylo Ren probably couldn’t help himself from bragging about it to the rest of the Galaxy.

The last Jedi, the name fits her well, but the responsibility is heavy on her shoulder and he doesn’t need to be her friend to know that. But he shouldn’t be concentrating on that right now, he has to finish his own mission. 

When he turns into a back alley, he spots Finn being cornered by a tall alien.

“I don’t want any trouble, I’m just looking for my friend,” Finn says, holding both of his hands in front of him. The alien doesn’t seem to care so Poe steps in, handing it a couple of credits.

“There you go buddy, no need for violence today,” Poe adds, unholstering his blaster underneath his cloak. The alien takes the credits and leaves them alone in the alley. “Did you find them?” He asks Finn once he’s sure they are alone.

“I have one street left to check and then we’ll need to go out of the perimeter she gave us.”

“Let’s go then, we’re running out of time.”

They walk down the last street and they finally spot Rose, who is posing as a cook in small food stall. She touches her left wrist, giving them the signal that everything is fine and that they can approach her.

“There you are,” Finn says quietly. 

“Let’s step inside before you two draw attention,” Rose answers, pulling back a beaded curtain to let them inside the small shop. 

Just before he crosses the threshold of the door, Poe turns around, feeling like he’s being observed. He scans the crowd quickly, trying to figure out if they are being followed, but no one truly stands out to him. 

Once he’s inside, he takes of the hood of his cloak and joins everyone at the table. “Did you get the information?” 

Rose nods and unfolds a hand made map across the table. “I found how to destroy the orbital ring.” She pulls out a holochip and projects a more in detail map or the orbital ring and the shaft that connects to the core of the planet. “We need to target the power shaft. From my calculations, a direct detonation from the energy core here will start a chain reaction.”

“That will bring the whole station down,” Poe finishes for her.

“And it will destroy the new fleet that the Supreme Leader ordered,” Finn adds, looking through the cracked roof at a dozen of half finished destroyers.

“Exactly,” Rose acknowledges and puts the chip back in her pocket for safe keeping. “BB-8 is already waiting for us there. He mapped out the entire path that we’ll need to use to get there. Did you bring enough explosives?”

“I brought everything that you asked for in your last transmission,” Poe confirms, putting his bag on the table and showing her the content. “How do we know that Beebee hasn’t been caught and that this is all a trap?” 

“We just have to hope Poe,” Rose says sadly. “It’s all we have now.”

“I don’t like this, we should have spent more time deciding how we were going to do this,” Poe says, unsure of the plan now. “There’s so much at stake with this mission, we can’t afford to mess it up.”

“Then we won’t,” Finn says proudly. “We’re doing this for the Resistance.”

The three of them look at each other, an unsaid vow passing through them, reminding them of their duty.

“Okay, let's blow this thing and go home,” Poe announces, gearing up.

They walk through a crowd of workers, managing to avoid the random security checks that Stormtroopers are doing. Still Poe has this feeling that someone knows that they are here. Yet no one intercepts them and they finally make it in rage for them to be able to communicate with BB-8. 

“Hey buddy, it’s me. Can you get the doors open in beta sector of the power shaft and then get the shuttle ready for us to leave?” Poe whispers in the commlink. His droid answers in the next few second and the doors in front of them slide open. “We’ll see you later, thanks buddy.” Poe peaks into the hallway and sees three Mechtroopers, their distinctive gray armour and heavy gun shining in the light, guarding the room. He lifts three fingers, indicating to Finn and Rose how many enemies they have to take down.

Poe enters the power shaft hallway first, taking down the first Mechtrooper by hitting him with his blaster while Finn and Rose tase the other two.

“Clear,” Poe says as he searches the trooper for its access chip.

“Clear,” Finn and Rose respond at the same time.

The enter the locked room with it, accessing the energy core. It’s massive, releasing waves of heat that makes Poe start to sweat immediately. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be,” he says, leaning on the railway and looking up the shaft. “Are you sure I brought enough explosive Rose?”

“The First Order is good at building big stuctures, but not stable ones. My calculations should still work,” Rose answers with confidence and watches as she finishes with the console. “Yes we even have extra. They really don’t have good engineers here, it’s almost over heating by itself.”

“I can feel that,” Finn jokes, wiping some sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his coat. “Time to destroy it then.”

Poe takes out three flying thermal detonators from his bag and hands one to Finn and Rose. “Once we activate them, we’ll have twenty seconds before detonation. Approximately.” He takes out another one, a manual detonator just incase something goes wrong.

“Approximately?” Finn retorts. 

“Well the heat of the power core might set them of immediately,” Poe answers with a smirk, the adrenaline kicking in. “Just throw it in, it will be fine.” Poe activates his and chucks it into the particle flow and the throws in the manual one. Rose tosses her after and gets ready to run. 

“Kriff give a guy a warning,” Finn yells and tosses his charge like a grenade and sprints away, making both Rose and Poe laugh as they follow him out.

They stop dead in their tracks when they run into a full platoon of Mechtroopers and Stormtroopers.

“Drop your weapons!” A metallic voice orders. There’s a crowd of workers assembling around them, curious to see what is going on.

Poe looks around trying to figure out an escape route that won’t get anyone killed. He looks up at the orbital ring, waiting for it to explode. “Distraction in three, two, one… NOW!” 

But nothing happens, the charges didn’t work. But Poe had planned for this, he isn’t a reckless Flyboy anymore. Sirens start wailing telling him that the detonators did explode, but that the blast was contained. He just needs to get everyone out of here.

“We’re switching to plan B,” Poe says confidently.

“We don’t have a plan B!” Finn whisper yells, panicking.

“I do.” Poe smirks taking out his blaster. 

Then a hooded Tusken runs out of the crowd, sliding on the dirt and putting itself in between the trio and the troopers. Poe recognizes it, he saw it in front of Rose’s hiding place and while they were walking to the power shaft. “Not my plan B but let’s just roll with the distraction.”

Then it takes something out of its cloak and two golden blades flashing from its hand. The troopers start shooting at them, but the Tuskan deflects every single bolt, spinning the lightsaber in a very familiar way.

Poe, Finn and Rose all start shooting, helping. The Tuskan to take out the whole platoon surrounding them. Poe keeps an eye on the stranger fighting beside them.

After the last trooper falls to the ground, Poe holsters his smoking blaster and looks at the stranger.

The Tuskan deactivates its lightsaber clipping it on a belt hidden under its raggedy clothes. Then it throws its mask on the ground and Poe lets out a breath he did know he was holding in.

Its Rey. She looks so different from the last time he saw her. She looks strong, healthy and especially very powerful. Her hair is in a long braid, keeping it away from her face and making her look like a true warrior.

“What are you doing here?” Finn asks her, shocked by her sudden reappearance. 

Rey spins around blocking a stay blaster bolt and making the dirty robes all off of her shoulder, revealing her new outfit.

Its all black, pants that fit her especially well and a long sleeve shirt that makes her looks elegant. Poe stares at her, his mouth slightly open as he takes her in. 

He’s taken out of the moment when Rey throws her lightsaber like a boomerang at a group of Trooper, ducking behind some crates as her weapon slices through her enemies. She stands up catching it perfectly as it comes back to her.

Poe joins her in her bidding spot, avoiding blaster bolts as he runs to Rey.

“You shouldn’t have come here Rey,” Poe yells over the noise of weapon firing. 

“You’d rather be killed than me saving your life?” 

“If it means you are safe, yeah,” Poe answers, a bit more quietly. Rey stops looking over the crates to stare at him. He offers her a kind smile and Rey can’t help but feel warm.

“Now’s not the time.” She shakes her head slightly before looking at the scene unfolding around them.

“Definitely not the time,” Poe whispers to himself.

Rey sheaths her saber again, standing up and using the Force to send the eight Troopers surrounding them flying to the ground.

There’s a small moment of silent where all the migrant workers are looking in Rey in awe before a buzzing whispering starts. “She’s a Jedi, she’s come to save us,” some say and others, “The gods have blessed us with a Jedi.” But it’s the children that really impact Rey. They all start chanting “Jedi! Jedi! Jedi!” and pointing her at her in reverence.

Another group of stormtroopers tries to enter the square, but it’s immediately blocked by the workers. Rocks start being thrown at the troopers and some workers even grab their tools to start fighting against their oppressors.

Rey can feel the spark being lit, the strength to fight filling the migrants hearts and the will to bring justice to themselves in the Force.

“We need to go!” Poe yells, standing up and running to her side.

“I have to help them!” Rey screams back. She brought them hope, she can’t just leave them to die. She wants to fight with them.

Poe looks up at the sky, watching as more troop transpo flying in their direction and even a couple of TIE fighters. “Not here, not now Rey. We have to leave!” She looks at him and his heart breaks at how sad she looks. “You know I want to help them, but we can’t save the Galaxy if we are dead.”

Rey knows that what he’s saying is true and that Poe truly wants to help these people, but it hurts her so much to turn her back to them.

She takes one good look at them, those strong people with good hearts, before joining her friends through the blast door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did change the lightsaber colour, I will die for the sunshine saber lol


	3. The Dark Side

The four of them are running towards the maintenance turbo lift that will bring them to the orbital ring, always taking glances over their shoulders to make sure that they aren’t being followed. Finn is leading the group, his blaster raised and ready to take down any threat. They finally reach the turbo lift and Rose steps forward and pulls out a data pad. Since they don’t have a droid with them, Rose will have to do it manually. She slices into the control panel and it only takes her a few second before she’s in control of the system. The doors hiss open and they squeeze themselves into the small capsule.

Rey stands beside Poe, using the moment to take a better look at him. He hasn’t changed a lot since the last time she saw him, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel like she’s missed nothing because every minute away from her friends is a minute she wishes she could be there. Poe’s personality and presence may be considered as overbearing for some people, but not for her. After being alone for most of her life, having someone that makes his presence known and makes the effort to spend time with her is something that makes her feel good. 

Poe nudges her with his elbow and Rey is brought out of her thoughts to notice that he is frowning. “Is everything okay with you?” He asks her, his voice soft and warm and reminding her of how attuned Poe is to the feelings of those around him.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about some things,” Rey answers vaguely and she can’t tell that Poe wants to ask her to be more specific, but he’s respectful of her boundaries as always and lets it go.

“BB-8? We are switching to plan B, is everything okay with you?” Poe asks his droid, changing the subject, who confirms that he can go along with plan B. “We’re going to need another ship to get out of here.” He looks up at the orbital ring and spots an Eclipse class Dreadnought. He can’t help but smirk, this is going to be fun.

“I know that look Poe. You are not serious Poe,” Rey deadpans, crossing her arms over her chest.

“That’s an a Dreadnought, you can’t fly-”, Finn tries to add.

“I can fly anything,” Poe cuts Finn off.

Rey, Finn and Rose all shake their heads, still sometimes amazed at Poe’s daring endeavours. The turbo lift’s door slide open and they jump into a a maintenance speeder to reach the Dreadnought faster and before they run into more Troopers.

“So you are sure about this?” Rey asks Poe as he pilots the speeder towards the Eclipse.

“Nope,” Poe says as he turns to look at her. “But you trust me, right?”

She doesn’t answer his question immediately, but in the end she can’t help but smile. “You know I trust you Flyboy.”

That’s enough to give Poe that little boost of confidence he needs to pull his plan together. “The Eclipse looks like it’s in maintenance which means there will only be minimal crew on it and almost no security.” Poe says when he notices the maintenance speeder and all the cables connected to the ship. “That and I don’t think they could have anticipated the possibility of us trying to steal a Destroyer.” 

“You’ve wanted to steal one for a long time haven’t you?” Finn asks as he checks his blaster one last time.

“I can’t say I haven’t had the idea to try to pilot one of these.” Poe jumps out of the speeder and protects Rose’s back as she slices into another console to get one of the boarding ramps open. It doesn’t take too long for Rose to work her magic again and the team is on their way onto the Eclipse. 

They run to the bridge without running into anyone or any droids which tells Poe that he really did pick a good ship to steal, especially when he realizes that there’s just a crew on the bridge and not a full maintenance crew on board.

“Who’s in charge here?” Poe asks walking straight to the helm of ship, pretending that he’s supposed to be there.

One officer steps up, gulping before speaking up. “I am the commanding officer on the bridge.”

“No you aren’t, I am now. I’m the new pilot in charge of this ship. Now where do I sit?”

Nobody on the bridge crew answers and Rey gets impatient. “You will set a course for the Nirauan System.” 

The mind trick works perfectly and the crew goes to their station. Rey laughs when she sees Poe face, clearly a bit insulted that she just stole his thunder.

She joins him at the helm and they both look at the console with a bit of confusion. There’s so many switches and buttons, which they both think half of them must do absolutely nothing. They start guessing the controls and it sort of works. The ship hums to life, many lights turning on, giving information that both Rey and Poe find useless

“We should cold start the engine, then we can jump right to hyperspace if we overheat the laser canon drive,” Rey suggests, starting to look for the right controls.

“the exhaust will spill-”

“-over into the propulsion system and we can freeze said chamber,” Rey finishes his thought and leans over him to flip some switches. 

Poe stares at her as she does it, truly realizing how much he had missed her presence and working with. “Don’t you see? You and I? How we—”

“Still not the time Poe,” Rey cuts him off. “Rose can you start the calculation for lightspeed?”

“This console makes no sense,” Rose mutters standing next to Finn. “I need more time, if I mess this up, we’ll fly into the sun,” the mechanic adds.

“Time to execute the final phase of plan B,” Poe says taking a remote detonator out of his pocket. He presses the button and in the distance they all hear a loud booming sound. “I threw in a little gift just in case.” It doesn’t do that much damage, not like the first plan would have, but it’s enough that the First Order doesn’t have the choice but to send a couple of Troopers to take care of the situation. 

The loud sound brings one of the crewmen to snap out of the mind trick and Finn has no choice but to knock him out. “Let’s get out of here faster please!” He adds, taking a quick look at all the crewmen to make sure no one else broke out of the mind trick.

“We’re ready to go!” Rose whoops, quickly typing into the computer. “I’ve disconnected most of the maintenance equipment and the fuel tanks is closed.”

“I’m working on it,” Poe mumbles, still trying to understand the controls. He eases his hands into the steering rig and gives it an experimental pull. “Who uses an inverted control yoke!” He looks at Rey, slightly panicking. “No wonder their pilots are so easy to take out,” he laughs nervously.

The Eclipse slowly pulls away from the station, ripping the maintenance gear of the hull, including the fuel line. There’s a loud scraping sound that fills the air and it is soon joined by the screeching of TIE fighters.

The lights flicker inside the Dreadnought and Poe pulls on the yoke, making the ship dip down. The TIE fighter are attacking the Dreadnought, but Poe had put the shields up as soon as he had control of the ship so they make no damage.

“Poe! The black empty part is where we should be pointing!” Rey yells, putting her hand on Poe’s shoulder.

“I’m trying! Everything is backwards on this stupid ship!” 

“I can fly anything,” Finn says in a mocking tone.

Poe finally manages to get some control on the ship and he starts accelerating. “Do we have confirmation that Bee made it onto the ship?” He asks, his hand on the light speed lever.

“Beebee are you on the ship?” Rey asks after she takes Poe’s commlink. The droid confirms that he is in fact inside the hangar and heading for the bridge. “He’s safe! We can go!” Rey puts her hand over Poe’s one on the lever and shoves it down, making the ship jump to hyperspace. 

They actually made it out alive.

***

“She’s stronger than I anticipated,” a broken voice says, echoing against the rocky walls of the monastery. “Those friends of hers, they motivate her.” 

Two red eyes glow in the dark, menacing and angry. “The Dark one will need to become stronger for us to survive.”

***

On Mustafar, Kylo Ren continues the hike up a a mountain, his face hidden under his cloak that hides how tired he is. Each step he takes brings him closer to his destiny, the pilgrimage will bring him strength and power unlike the Galaxy hasn’t seen since the Empire.

Then he sees it, Darth Vader’s castle, his grand father’s fortress, its forgotten structure looming over the cliff and a sea of lava. It’s falling to pieces, old and abandoned, but the secrets it holds are what Kylo Ren truly wants.

The Sith takes out his lightsaber, the crimson light helping him to see as he finds a crevice to infiltrate the castle. A cold burst of wind pushes him back, almost stopping him from entering the throne room.

“Stop it you old fool, you cannot stop me anymore,” Kylo Ren spits out, filling with anger.

“You know that is not the truth,” Luke Skywalker says, his Force Ghost materializing in front of Kylo. “This is where the Dark Side of the Force has led you. The empty tomb of my father. How mighty do you feel now?” 

“Shut up!” Kylo screams, his voice echoing in the valley. “How dare you speak to me! I killed you! You are nothing but ashes now!”

“Yet here I am, invincible. No one can kill me now, am I even dead. You have made me stronger than you could ever imagine,” Luke says, not quite arrogant, but more prideful. “I know what you are looking for here. Your Master had no idea what he was talking about, he lead you astray. You’ll never find the strength you are desperate for here. You are still hollow inside.”

“Soon I will be more powerful than any Jedi. More powerful than _her_.

“Are you sure?”

Kylo Ren howls, spinning around and raising his lightsaber to cut down Luke. “I will kill her just like I killed you and Han!” 

But he hits nothing. The ghost of his uncle is gone, leaving him alone on Mustafar once again.

“Go home. Go home to Leia,” Luke voices echoes. “Don’t give more to the Dark Side. It will bring nothing but more pain to you.”

Kylo looks around the room, fearing what his uncle could do, not that he would admit that to himself. 

He jumps back when there’s a loud sound and, at the centre of the room, a scarlet hue of light emerges from the altar.

There it is, the Sith holocron, the knowledge he has been seeking for years. What Snoke couldn’t truly give him, a direct line to the Dark Side. He drops to his knees, bowing before the altar. 

“Luke was wrong, he always was. I am powerful. The Dark Side is my destiny.”

He reaches through the Force, channelling the dark energy of the planet invading his mind and letting it drain him.

The pyramidal holocron lifts off the altar, the three sides of it pulling away and revealing an orb of pure energy. It glows so brightly that Kylo has to shield his eyes for a few second.

A hologram appears in front of Kylo, the terrifying figure of Emperor Palpatine looking down on him. It flickers for a few seconds and Kylo waits, he waits for the knowledge he’s been yearning for.

_“Lord Vader. Young Skywalker will soon be ours, I have foreseen it. But we must prepare for the unforeseen. Should he strike me down, you will take him to the Remnicore System. There you will find Tor Valum, Master of the Sith Lord who instructed me.”_   
Kylo Ren listens to every word, feeling like he has just been blessed by this new knowledge. Then the hologram starts phasing it out, the blue light of the hologram becoming a deep red and a piercing noise fills the air 

“You are not Lord Vader,” a disembodied voice grumbles. Then the noise gets even louder and a beam of concentrated light emerges from the holocron, hitting Kylo in the chest.  
Then, Kylo falls on his side, his body contorting as pain blooms from chest. His face burns, he can feel part of his skin melt, purplish vains blooming and snaking up his neck. 

The castle is filled by the horrific screams of Kylo Ren.

***

“What a disappointment, this pathetic being is supposed to bring back the glory to the Dark side.” The dark being stands up from its throne, walking down the step that are littered with bodies. “I have work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be 100% honest, with the self isolation I had not realized how time had passed and I was supposed to post this chapter way earlier lol.


	4. The Light Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates on this story. With the hits system not working I really got demotivated and decided to wait until I was happier with this story. So here is chapter 3!

The Eclipse Destroyer enters the space over Korilev, starting its decent towards the small jungle planet. 

Not wanting to make the Resistance panic, Poe jumps onto the comms system. “This is Commander Poe Dameron, I am currently piloting the Eclipse class Star Destroyer and starting my decent towards the planet, please do not engage.” 

There’s a moment of radio silence, which makes Poe worry that a full squadron of pilots is coming at them.

“You did not steal a Dreadnought,” Snap Wexley’s says, his familiar voice reassuring Poe. 

“I did,” Poe answers laughing. “It’s not as hard as it seems,” he adds pridefully making Rey playfully slap his shoulder. “Can I have an escort to guide me down?” 

“Sure buddy, I’m dispatching one right now.”

“See you on the ground.”

“Are you sure you can land it?” Rey asks him, a bit worried that the reversed yoke will make the task a lot harder. “It really isn’t easy to pilot.”

“I should be able to do it, I’ve mainly figured it out now. I’ll keep the speed pretty slow just to be sure, but can you keep an eye on the stabilizer and make sure they actually work? These Destroyers are truly something else.”

“Sure,” Rey sits back down beside him, taking the controls. “So was it what you expected it to be?”

“What I expected what to be?”

“Stealing a Star Destroyer,” Rey laughs. “Did it bring you the satisfaction you needed.”

Poe laughs too and Rey can’t help but smile. “You know what? It’s really not that fun to pilot. I might not be cut out to fly big ships like this. But, I am still very satisfied that we stole a Destroyer with only a team of four people. I wish I could see Hux’s face right now.”

“I am sure it would be glorious,” Rey concludes.

***

On the ground, Connix runs to get Leia who I currently standing outside in one of the clearings outside the main hub of the base. So much suffering has been in her life in the last years, yet she is still a guiding light for the Resistance. Connix slows, not wanting to make her leader jump. Leia is gracefully sitting on a stone wall, her long gray hair unbraided and flowing down her back as she watches some of the native critters in the distant. 

“You can speak, I know you are there,” Leia says, sensing Connix’s presence.

“The team made it back,” the Lieutenant announces, slightly out of breath. 

“Was the mission successful?”

“It depends,” Connix says hesitantly.

Leia turns around and Connix points to the sky, making Leia take a step back. She stares incredulously at the massive Destroyer, slightly relieved when she notices the small X-wings flying beside it.

“Did Poe steal a Star Destroyer?” Leia asks, looking at Connix with wide eyes.

“It would seem so.”  
They assemble a small team and waits for the Eclipse to settle on the ground before boarding it. Leia goes straight for the bridge , letting the security team go ahead of her just in case.

When she walks in, the First Order crewmen are already being escorted out it handcuffs.

“You are in strict violation of the Corellian Accord, you are breaking the law,” a man with a bloody nose says, resisting as he is being pulled away from the room.

“Just add it to my list of crimes,” Poe jokes, still sitting at the helm of the ship.

“What should we do with the prisoners?” Connix asks, a holopad in hand and already taking notes.

“Cook them a meal, lets show them how you are supposed to treat prisoners,” Leia quips, making Connix chuckle discreetly. “Scan the ship, make sure there aren’t any troops on it or a tracking beacon,” then she turns to Poe. “But I’m sure our team thought of doing that in the first place, right?”

“Come on, tell me you haven’t always wanted one of these,” Poe says hesitantly, turning on his chair to look at his General. “And yes we did scan the ship for life forms before jumping out of hyperspace,” he adds when Leia gives him _the look_.

“Prepare for evacuation, we’re leaving,”Leia says, loud enough for Connix to hear as she walks away with the prisoners.

“What? Why? We took every precaution not to be tracked!” Poe utters, standing up from the captain’s chair. 

“Poe, you stole a Star Destroyer,” Leia responds, letting out a deep breath, indicating that she might be annoyed at him right now.

“I disabled their homing beacon, we are clear,” Rose adds.

“Would you bet our lives on that?” Leia asks and both Rose and Poe shake their head. “That’s what I thought. Go get ready for the evacuation.” The team evacuates the bridge, but Leia stops Finn before he can leave. “How is she?” She asks him, looking at Rey who is leaning against the wall in the corridor, her eyes closed.

“I don’t know honestly, she’s changed a lot since we last saw her. I think you should talk to her,” Finn answers, his eyes filled with concern for his friend. He will talk to her later of course, but now doesn’t feel like the right moment. So he leaves, letting Leia have her moment with Rey.

“Are you okay Rey?” Leia asks the younger woman, taking in her new appearance.

“I failed,” Rey says simply.

“You weren’t even supposed to be on this mission.”

“We could have started a Rebellion, I left those people behind after inspiring them. I gave them hope and then abandoned them to be terrorized by the First Order.”

“You can’t save everyone Rey, you have to learn that. Yes, they all look up at you, they believe you are their saviour and nothing will change that. Jedi have inspired thousands of generation.”

“I can’t be want they want me to be, I’m not strong enough.” Rey bows her head, feeling like the whole weight of the Galaxy is being put on her shoulder.

“That’s not true Rey, you have an incredible strength in you, one that you haven’t disproved yet,” Leia tells her sternly, not accepting Rey’s self doubt.

“That strength scares me, I can feel it inside me, but I don’t know where it comes from. It calls to me, every night I have nightmares. It always the same thing, a white face, streaked with red, gleaming red eyes staring straight at me. It wants me, I can feel it, something isn’t right with me.” 

Leia looks worried for a moment, Rey’s dream loosely reminding her of a nightmare Ben had once when he was younger, but there’s no time to ponder over that at the moment. “Find your balance Rey, no one can teach you that. Now we have to make sure the First Order doesn’t find this place before we leave.”

***

In a different part of the ship, Chewie and Finn find a blast door that picks at both of their curiosity. It’s deeper in the Destroyer, where Finn assumes would be another hangar if he compares it to the other Destroyers he’s been on.

“Do you think you can open it?” Finn asks the Wookie, looking at the control panel. “We don’t have the time to slice through this.”

Chewbacca growls, ripping out a control panel, accessing the wires to bypass the security. The doors open, leaving both of the completely speechless. 

Before them is a huge hangar, miles long, filled with ships, walkers, assault vehicles and heavy artillery. There are creates that Finn assumes are filled with weapons, ammunition and maybe even, if they are lucky, medical supplies and food.

Finn steps in looking with wonder at what could be their salvation. “There’s enough firepower for us to take the Capitol.” Chewbacca walks pass him, also taking in the sight before him. “Poe, you need to see this!” Finn yells down the corridor.

Poe runs in with Rose a few seconds later and drops in his tracks, his jaw dropping. He the regains his composure and smirks “See? I told you all that taking this ship was a good idea. When have I ever come back empty handed.” Poe slaps Finn’s back playfully, then puts his hand on his hips as he makes a mental list of everything he can see. “Yes, this was plan B.”

“Was it really?” Rose ask sarcastically as she opens a crate to see what’s inside. Poe doesn’t answer, but really he doesn’t have to.

“We have ships, weapons, the only thing we need now is an army,” Finn says.

“How will we find one? Nobody can hear us, we are completely in the dark,” Poe answers, reality coming back to him and remembering the disappointment on Crait.

“We don’t have to be,” a voice cuts in and the three of them turn around to look at Rey, who is standing in the threshold of the blast doors, once again bringing back hope.

***

They gather inside the main hull of the Falcon, and Rey takes out the Sacred Jedi texts from their hiding place, laying the out on the Dejarik table. Poe, Finn, Rose and Chewie gather around the table as Rey flips through the books, trying to find the right page.

“Yes, there it is.” Rey points to a page re-reading it quickly to make sure her intuition was right. “The Jedi had a communication system. It was built before the Old Republic and powered by a nexus hidden underneath the temple.” On the page, there is a detailed sketch of the old Jedi temple on Coruscant, pointing to where the system is hidden. “There’s a Force beacon, hidden deep in the temple.”

“What tells us that Palpatine didn’t destroy it when he turned the place into his palace?” Poe asks, his eyes still fixed on the page.

“There’s no way it still works,” Finn says. “It’s too old.”

“This tells us it works.” Rey removes one of Luke’s folded notes and holds it up. “Luke went to check on it a while after the war ended, he says that it still works.”

“Old Republic tech is better than the junk we have today anyway,” Poe mumbles, standing up and pacing along the length of the room.

“That frequency pre-dates the Empire by a thousand years and they didn’t find it. The First Order’s blockade couldn’t disrupt the signal if they don’t even know to look for it,” Rose adds, leaning in to get a better view at the plans in the book.

“I think it’s worth a shot,” Finn announces. “It might be our last chance.”

Everyone stops talking and turns to look at Poe, who along the years has become their de-facto leader. Leia has given a lot more responsibility, a task that Poe had accepted, feeling honoured that even after his mistakes, Leia still saw him as her right hand man.

“Poe?” Rose asks when he keeps pacing, seemingly unaware that everyone is waiting for him to choose. “What do you think?”

“Anything is worth a shot,” Poe finally answers, making Chewie roar in approval, saying something about how they will finally end the First Order. “Yeah, I hope so too Chewie. Rey?”

Rey doesn’t hear him talking, something feels wrong. There’s a voice, an awful voice resonating through her head. It’s calling to her again, just like it does in her dreams.

**“Rey?”** Poe says louder than the first time, walking to her side and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Rey flinches, snapping out of her trance, her hand coming up to cover Poe’s one on her shoulder. “Yes, sorry I was just thinking. This is what we have to do. Hope is all we have left.” Poe looks down at her, not convinced that she truly is fine. There’s something in the air that feels wrong, making the hair at the back of his neck stand up.

They all nod, finally feeling a bit of hope that one the war will end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I would love to hear what you think of this story! :)


	5. The Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Mortis,” Rey whispers, still having difficulty to accept what she just saw in her vision, “We were on Mortis.”_
> 
> _Luke’s eyes open wide and starts pacing for a few second before sitting down beside Rey on the forest floor. “What do you know of the realm of Mortis?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....hi? It's been a while since I updated this, but to be entirely honest, I lost motivation for this story a while ago and the last months in quarantine have been hard on my motivation to write. This chapter has been written since maybe February, so here it is, I hope you all like it!

Rey finishes her last lap of the training room, not stopping before she gets her wooden staff, the one Poe had given her months ago, before she had made her new lightsaber. She had complained that she didn’t have anything to train with anymore after first lightsaber was broken and Poe had given her this new one a few weeks after. He told her he bought it for her, but as soon as she touched it, she knew that he actually made it for her, it felt too much like him to not be. It’s a simple design and made from the wood of one of the trees native to the planet and Rey still sometimes wonders how he had the time to make it, but something tells her that it’s because he doesn’t sleep much.

Rey picks it up, spinning it a couple times, enjoying the feel of it in her hands. Then, she puts on her blindfold, finding her centre and connecting to the Force. She loves her new lightsaber, she made it herself and infused it with her Force signature, but the staff has a familiarity to it. 

She starts by moving through her forms, initially calm and at peace, but it doesn’t take her long to become more aggressive. She runs outside, feeling a sudden burst of energy hit her like lightning. 

Rey runs past a few Resistance soldiers, all of them moving aside and staring at her as she ducks under a low branch and enters the forest. She leaps over fallen tree trunks hitting the targets that she had hung on tree branches months ago along her training circuit. She going fast, faster that she usually does it, but she can’t stop running. 

Just before Rey gets close enough to the last target, she trips on a rock and falls to the ground, sliding on the cold ground until her back hits a tree. She doesn’t move immediately, wincing in pain as she takes a deep breath. 

Rey opens her eyes and has to hold in tears as she stares at her staff, broken in half next to her. 

She’s so angry, sad, her body hurts so much and she can’t help stop herself from screaming. She just destroyed one of her most prized possession because she was good enough, once again and she hates herself for it.

“Your pain is an illusion,” Luke’s voice says and Rey looks around, wondering if she’ll get to see his ghost today, but she still alone on the forest floor.

“It isn’t actually,” Rey mumbles under her breath and stands up.

Or she tries to, but once again she feels like she’s been struck by lightning and she falls on her knees. Images start flashing through her head.

***

“We need to keep her safe, no one can find her,” a woman says, holding a baby to her chest, swaying from side to side. 

“It will be hard, he won’t stop looking for her no matter what. She the only thing that stands in the way of him ascending to his true power,” a man answers. “She’s too young for us to try to escape, we still have to wait.” He looks at the woman and the baby, clearly worried.

“For how long? When he finds out what she will become, he’ll kill her.” The woman puts the baby down in a small bassinet, gently stroking the sleeping baby’s cheek before turning to look back at the man. “If we are sacrificed before we can save her, what happens?”

“It won’t come to that, I promise. I will keep you both safe until then. She is the future of the Force, of the Galaxy, it is what I was born to do.”

***

Rey’s breath comes out harshly, her fingers digging into the cold dirt. Who were those people? Did she just see her parent’s for the first time in a vision? What were they talking about?

Rey barely has time to answers her questions as her head starts pounding in pain. She pulls at her hair, trying not to scream as she falls on her side again, being pulled into another vision.

***

There’s a mountain, jagged peaks of stone covered by snow, or is it ashes? Rey can’t really tell for sure, she’s never seen anything like it before. 

On the top of the mountain there’s a monastery, an ancient temple that stands strong even if it looks older than time itself. Rey’s vision changes and she finds herself standing in the middle of a throne room. 

Across from her Kylo Ren is standing in the shadows, his lightsaber ignited and emitting are deeper crimson glow than usual. She looks to the side and there he is, sitting on the ancient throne.

The terrifying creature from her dreams is looking at them with a smirk. His eyes glow in the same shade of red than Kylo’s lightsaber and Rey barely has the time to react before having to deflect one of Kylo’s blow.

They engage in a duel, fighting brutally, each of them wanting to be the champion. Then it happens, with one strong and swift swing of his lightsaber, Kylo Ren strikes her down.

***

Rey vomits, ripping her blindfold off as she tries to regain control. 

“What did you see?” Luke’s voice says, concerned.

“A mountain… it was there… the creature from my nightmares… Kylo was there too, but he seemed so distant, so profoundly evil.” She doesn’t tell him she saw herself die by his hands, no one needs to know that but her.

Luke’s got appears in front of her and Rey notices how panicked he looks. “You have seen the future Rey.”

“I think Kylo saw it too, I wasn’t alone in that vision, I felt him,” It’s the first time since she closed the door of the Falcon on him and broke the connection between them that she’s felt him in this way. It disgusts her, she hates having him poke around her head especially if it made him able to see the same future that she just saw. 

It confirms what she has always denied though, Kylo Ren truly and only wanted to kill her all along and never, not even for a second cared for her. He only wants power and she’s always been the one standing in his way.

“Where were you?” Luke inquires, rubbing at his temples.

Rey sits back against the tree trunk and closes her eyes. She finds the vision again, deep inside of her. The temple, she knows it, she has read about it in the Sacred Jedi texts. It was right there in front of her the whole time, she was just too naive to believe it.

“Mortis,” Rey whispers, still having difficulty to accept what she just saw in her vision, “We were on Mortis.”

Luke’s eyes open wide and starts pacing for a few second before sitting down beside Rey on the forest floor. “What do you know of the realm of Mortis?”

“I know about what was written in the Jedi texts. It’s old and has existed since way before the Jedi and the Sith. There were three of them, three gods that lived there, keeping the balance in the Force. One of darkness, one of light and one to control them,” Rey takes a deep breath. “The Chosen One was meant to protect that balance. Anakin Skywalker traveled there and killed the Gods, assuring that the balance was kept. Mortis no longer exists, it died with the Gods.”

“So am I Rey, so am I and look at me.” The blue hue of light around Luke fades and if Rey wasn’t still so shocked by her vision and unsure of what is real or not, she would say that he looked just as real as her.

“There was another prophecy, one that I discovered during my exile and that I didn’t write down just in case someone with bad intentions found the books. Beneath the Temple of Mortis there is an ancient power, the source of where the gods come from, the pure Force itself. The Jedi were terrified of it so they buried any trace of evidenced that mentioned it. The Sith however, craved it. They became so obsessed with the prophecy and wanted to claim if for themselves. One Sith Lord believed it was the pathway to immortality, they called him Darth Plaguies the Wise. Ironic that he was so wrong and in his quest for it he got himself killed.” 

Rey stares at Luke, knowing that there has to be more to the story. 

“But, if there’s a chance that such power exists, that someone could claim it, we have to act. If Kylo Ren reaches the temple and takes it for himself, all we’ve fought for will be lost. You have to stop him.”

“Kylo Ren will not stop until he has everything he wants, he will destroy everything that stands in his way, including me.” Rey tells her master.

“Then you’ll have to destroy him,” Luke announces, his voice unwavering and solemn.

“You want me… to kill Leia’s son?”

“He’d kill you without thinking twice about it,” Luke tells her, his features showing an incredible sadness. “The Force guides us towards that balance, Rey. It won’t always show you what you want to see, but what we need to see.”

“You talk about balance like it’s so simple. The Darkness suffocates the Light. The Light extinguish the Dark. Over and over. An endless cycle of murder and killing. Fighting that never stops. How is that balance, Luke?” Rey says angrily, standing up. “I won’t play a part in that.”

“I know that anger. I felt it just like my father did before me. But it is the task of the Jedi to fight that anger.”

“So you say. You saw that because your master told you. And his master before him. A thousand master all claiming the same thing yet, the balance never stays. They’ve failed thousands of times, and they are still so eager to tell us how to live.”

Rey stops pacing and looks through the clearing in the trees. In the distance, she can see that Finn and Rose are standing over a holomap, planning the attack. A bit farther, her eyes land on Poe who’s working with Chewie on the Falcon. Kind Poe who would never hold a person’s past against them and who is dedicated to the Light. Rey takes a deep breath and concentrates on them, her family. 

“I spent my whole life wanting a family. Now I’ve got one and I’m going to protect them even if it kills me.”

“The Force is speaking to you Rey, you have to listen to it,” Luke says, the familiar blue hue of his ghost coming back.

“Maybe I’m not who it thinks I am.” Rey turns around, to look at her master.

“Then who are you?”

“I’m no one,” Rey answers simply.

“If that’s what you truly believe, the the last Jedi is dead,” Luke tells her.

Rey picks up the pieces of her broken staff and sighs. “Maybe he is.”

***

“She still doesn’t realize who she is,” The pale faced monster says, putting his intertwined fingers under its chin. “We still have a chance to win then. It’s only a matter of time now.” 

***

Medical droids scatter around the Medbay, all tending to their Supreme Leader. 

Kylo Ren lays on the table, his blood soaking his clothing and dripping down the side of the table. The Sith Holocron had done it’s damage to the fake heir and left him unconscious for hours in Vader’s castle, until he had woken up and dragged himself outside and called his ship. 

The droids had told him the extent of the damage, half of his face is deeply scarred, but the droids had managed to save his eye. The part that disgusts him the mosts is his arm, it’s a mangled mess of human tissue, broken bones and ligaments. 

“Cut it off,” He growls, his voice shaky as he shivers from the blood lost.

“My lord, we could still attempt to save it,” the lead medical droid tells him.

**”CUT IT OFF!”** Kylo roars, spitting out blood and making the room shake. 

Hours later, the medical table rises vertically, letting Kylo Ren see his new self for the first time. Half of his face is covered by strips of medical bacta bandages, his bloodshot eye visible through a slit. There’s still dried blood at the juncture of his shoulder and his new cybernetic arm. They didn’t have time or the ressources to give him one that looks like it’s a human arm, but the black metal fits him more, he thinks. His grandfather was never ashamed of his cybernetics and neither would he. There’s only one piece missing.

“Finish it,” Kylo grunts, his throat dry and finding it hard to move his damaged face. He sits still as the mask lowers onto his head, sealing it’s self with a loud, but satisfying hiss. On his new cybernetic arm, a small control panel lights up and one of the med droid presses on a few a few buttons. The pain on his face dissipates and his throat stops burning.

“Breath Supreme Leader,” the Med droid says finally. 

Kylo Ren stands up and lets out the breath he was holding it. The sound that comes out is deep, guttural and almost animalistic, perfect for a Sith Lord.

“Set a course for Coruscant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't guaranty when this story will be updated again, but I will try to finish it!
> 
> I would love to read what everyone thinks of this or if there's anything you want me to include in this story.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading and I hope you are all as excited as I am for this story!
> 
> (Also disclaimer just in case, the original Duel of the Fates concept belongs to Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow as they are the one who wrote the leaked script, some of the dialogue is taken directly from the script and also obviously the main "context" of the story)


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